This dress is the perfect holiday dress. It’s jersey so super easy to pack and you can almost always get away without ironing it. Its an empire line so very flattering, comfortable to wear and best of all its really versatile. You can style it so many different ways, for day or night, just change your shoes and accessories and you have a completely new look! What’s even better is the dress takes no time at all to make. I haven’t included lots of photos for this tutorial as its such a straight forward make but if you have any questions just let me know.

Right let’s get down to business!

Fabric – Jersey. The first time I made it I used a printed fabric, which was only one sided. It looked great but restricted me when it came to wrapping styles as sometimes the back of the fabric showed. The best jersey to use is anything double sided. Plains are probably your easiest option. For this tutorial I used a plain blue t-shirt jersey.

Dress Length – You can really make this dress any length you want, maxi, midi or mini. I didn’t decide the length of my dress until the very end. If you opt for a shorter dress you then have the option to wear it as a skirt too.

I used my over locker to make my dress but if you don’t have one a sewing machine is fine. Just remember to use a jersey needle and polyester thread. Use a zig zag or stretch stitch unless stated otherwise. For the dress use a 1/4″ seam allowance.

Before you do anything else you need to take the following measurements

– Under bust

– Strap width

Measure from in between your boobs to the middle of the side of your arm. Hope that makes sense?!

– Full height
Self explanatory really, how tall you are.

– Under bust to floor (or to the length you want your skirt)

You will need

1″ elastic slightly longer than your under bust measurement.

Fabric – take your measurements first, take a look at the cutting layout and then work out your fabric requirement. You will need to buy a length at least the same as your height.

Coordinating thread.

Cutting Layout

2 rectangles for the skirt = ((1.5 x under bust)/2) BY length of skirt

5. Find the front centre of the skirt by folding it in half so the seams are lined up. Mark the centre point.

6. Take one of the straps and pin the width along the skirt edge right sides together. Start 1 1/2″ to the right of the centre point.

7. Now pin the second strap on the skirt edge right sides together. This time start at the mark left of the centre. Your straps should overlap each other at the centre of the dress.

8. Pin the folded waistband tube on top of the straps so that all raw edges are aligned (waist band, straps and skirt). Make sure that the side seams of the skirt and waistband line up.

9. Sew/overlock all the layers together, don’t forget to leave an opening for the elastic to be fed through.

10. Feed the elastic into the waistband tube. You can use a safety pin in the end of the elastic to make it a little easier.

11. Try on your dress and once you are happy with the fit of the elastic mark it. Lay the start of the elastic over the mark and sew the elastic ends together with two rows of stitching, for extra strength. Cut off any excess.

12. Sew/overlock the waistband opening closed.

13. Even out the gathered fabric so that the side seams are on the sides and the straps sit evenly across the front of the dress.

14. There’s no need to hem the bottom of the dress, unless you really want to, so just check that you are happy with the length and that it’s straight, if not trim with scissors or a rotary cutter to make it level.

15. You are done! Go try it on and have hours of fun tying the straps in different styles!!

Copyright Notes: You are welcome to hand make items from my tutorials for non-commercial use only, any commercial use of this tutorial (or realizations derived from it) is prohibited. I respectfully ask you to not pass off my tutorials as your own design and to not reproduce any part of this tutorial anywhere. Thank you for your understanding.